Superpower
by tearsofbreakingglass
Summary: In an effort to make them closer by their bosses, Russia and America spend an awkward evening together and try to relate to each other.


Washington, D.C., 2017

Alfred sat on a park bench in Lafayette Square. He looked around. His new boss had wanted him to get closer to Russia, normalize relations with the other nation. Try and make his job easier. Alfred didn't know how he felt about it. They'd been at war - and it was war because did the Cold War ever really end or was it a really long stalemate? - for decades now, getting closer and closer to a century. He sighed and tried to get a cigarette out while making sure to not spill his Starbucks all over his lap. It was hard work, but he eventually got it.

"You still smoke? I would've thought you quit considering all those anti-smoking ads you started airing." Ivan had just arrived and sat down besides his American counterpart. He pulled out his own cigarette, lit it, and offered it to America, who gratefully took it. "It's disgusting, you really should."

America rolled his eyes. "Are you fuckin' serious, dude? You've got the same shit at your place! You even used Obama in one!"

Russia took a drag before replying. "Do as I say, not as I do."

They smoked in silence for awhile. Russia absentmindedly played with his lighter, flicking it on and off. America looked around at anything besides the hulking man besides him. He whistled some Top 40s crap that he'd been listening to earlier on his drive over. He went with where his mind went to first. "So that last election. You know an-"

"I know you're terrible at reading the atmosphere, but I thought you were supposed to be the friendly one. You wouldn't ask a guest whether they've committed a crime, don't bring up the election. It's all I've heard about since November." Russia's jaw clenched and he stomped out his cigarette. He sighed. "We didn't. Not that I know of. Who's to say. Do you know everything your boss does? What he tells everyone to do?"

America nodded his head. The guy had a point. It wasn't until recently he'd found out about a lot of things his bosses had done. Not even his bosses, just people in the departments with too much power and too many resources. None of them were ever told the full stories. Not until it was too late.

"Have you ever liked any of your bosses? All the ones I've heard of have been shitty. No offense, like I'll give props to some of the worst ones for the one good things they did, but there's a lotta crazy in your history."

Russia decided to ignore the crazy part. He didn't feel like riling up the American yet. "Da, of course I have. Ivan, Peter, and Catherine were great. Ivan was terrible." He paused for a moment, remembering all of what Alfred had said. "You've never heard of Ivan, Catherine, or Peter? All the greats, you ignore them?"

Alfred leaned back and flicked his cigarette, watching ash fall onto his Converse. "I don't ignore them, I just breezed through them. All you old guys' monarchies are so boring and...stifling. There's no freedom, no liberty. It's full of tyrants that only got so good as to be not that oppressive. Shit man, I know about serfs. Think of the serfs! They get jack shit while all you aristocratic types starve them while eating cake. And talk about taxation without representation! If Washington would've let me, I would've taught France to revolution and spread it to all of you."

Ivan had been holding back a laugh throughout that entire speech. He finally let loose when he sensed the American was done. His body shook and he had to hold his stomach. As he calmed down, Russia wiped a tear from his eye. "I thought you were a capitalist."

"Damn right I am. And proud of it."

"You sounded somewhat socialist there. Calling for revolution, wanting justice for the proletariat, destroying the foundations of the bourgeoisie."

"I didn't take it that far."

Russia shrugged. "I'm just saying, better red than dead." He jumped subjects to prevent hearing another of America's many speeches on the benefits of a capitalist society. He'd heard enough in the eighties and didn't need to relive that. "We were all rooting for you in the Revolution. Did you know that?"

Alfred shook his head. "No, didn't really care to. Everyone's allies now so it doesn't matter. All I knew was France and Spain kept some of the pressure off me. It was towards the end, but help is help. Wait-you included? Bullshit. I ain't that dumb, dude."

"My country in 1776 was very different from what it is now. Catherine, the one you should know about, was kind and intelligent. It was the Enlightenment. Things were decent then. We abolished serfdom, scared Prussia for a few years, partioned Poland, partioned Poland a second time. Life was good." Ivan remembered what things had been like back then. He remembered Tzarina Elizabeth's crossdressing balls, helping Catherine sneak letters to her various lovers, and being on the battlefield with and against many of his neighbors. He smiled.

"Do you always have to go after Poland? There's other countries to bully." America rolled his eyes. He put his cigarette out on the bench and flicked it down.

"I could mess with you, but I don't want another Cuban Missile Crisis." He looked over at Alfred for the first time the whole meeting and smiled. "The world is strange, da?"

"Yeah, it is. What's your point?"

"In 1776, I was a backwoods little country. Vast amounts of land and a huge population, but all agriculture. I've probably had as many famines as Ireland. Out of all the European powers, I was the weakest and that was next to Prussia. I give Gilbert credit. He managed to make all of us look like idiots in thirty years. Maybe you could learn to win a war that doesn't involve the whole world fighting on either side." He chuckled at his own joke. "And you, you were some nobody. A colony that wanted, what? A place in Parliament before saying 'fuck it' and leaving?"

"What's your point Braginski?" Alfred really didn't like being called a nobody and having his revolution diminished that much. Sure, it was true, but that didn't mean he had to say it.

"Who would've guessed that we'd be the superpowers. Every one of them has always underestimated us till this point and they're snide about it, isolating us. We could crush them." Ivan's face lit up with a huge grin. The idea of dominating all the countries who'd mocked him and pushed him aside since he was a child spread a feeling of warmth throughout him. All those nations that made him feel out of place - too European to be Asian, too Asian to be European - groveling at his feet. It was beautiful.

America nudged him with his elbow. "Careful, big guy. Can't have you invading Poland. We're supposed to civilized now."

"We are? Well then, what do you call it when your armies go into a place and stay there for awhile without being wanted?"

"We're protecting the citizens. Against their will."

"And when your allies are doing it?"

"A bit of a dick move, but it's for the greater good."

"When I do it?"

"That's an invasion and it has to be stop-fuck you, man. I don't needa be called out on this. I got enough Americans on Twitter saying how much they hate this country and writing out every hypocritical thing we've done. I don't need it from you too. Besides, you pull the same bullshit. Neither of us are innocent."

Russia shrugged. That was fair. "So you must see all the stuff blaming you for whatever tragedy or misfortune then? Especially in other countries."

Alfred snorted. "It's either you or me. Sometimes it's both. The surprise fourth option is us plus China. It's like the whole world thinks we're the bad guys. I'm just trying to help, spread democracy, and be the hero everyone needs. Or used to need."

"Da. I could say the same for myself. The second war, they all loved us. Everyone wanted our help. We were valuable allies. It's like we're suddenly not good enough anymore. Everyone thinks we're in the wrong. They don't even choose a side anymore, they just denounce us both. You're lucky you have Britain and Israel still."

"I've only got Britain cause he knows he'll be fucked in two years and needing my help. He's hated what I've done since the eighties probably. Israel's in the same boat as South Korea and Japan though. They're probably this close to me because I'm what's protecting them. You're luckier. You don't have to worry about that and trying to get who's supposed to be your friends to stop asking you about why you did an air strike on whoever last night when diplomacy works so much better. It's like they don't remember appeasement. What did diplomacy do for them then?"

"I'd rather have friends that question my judgement than no friends at all. It's lonely at the top."

The two of them let that hang for sometime. Ivan lit another cigarette. Alfred checked his phone. The American looked up. The sun was finally setting, turning the sky into a shade of colors resembling a bruise. "Yo, Russia. What if we really are the bad guys? What if everyone has a reason to dislike us so much? Is that the price of being a superpower cause if it is, I want out."

Russia thought it over. He searched for the answer in his memories. Whenever he saw France, he always looked cheerful and relaxed. Britain was always lonely so the fact that he isolated himself more with his empire didn't come as a surprise. He couldn't remember much of Spain and Portugal's reign since it was so quick, but he assumed they were their normal selves. He knew he hated each one of those nations when they challenged him, if they ever even did. He didn't remember constantly wishing for their fall or for a coup or writing negative press about them in times of peace.

He glanced over at Alfred. Ivan had accepted the fact that he may not be as good as he thought he was long ago. The whole Stalin and USSR fiasco made him realize that, especially towards the end when hidden information was made known to him. He'd confronted that long ago and was thankful Germany was still reeling with that so he had someone to talk to about it. But America still believed he was, without a doubt, a source of good in the world. Sure, he really disliked him, but Ivan wasn't that cruel. Everyone's got to reach that hell in their own way.

Ivan rose and put his hand on Alfred's shoulder. He forced himself to grin wide. "I thought this meeting was supposed to be lighthearted. Let's go to a bar. There's probably a game on, you can tell me about one of those silly sports you love so much and I can laugh at how weak your beer is."

"Don't make it too fun or I might actually want to spend more time around you." Alfred got up and playfully elbowed the Russian. He forced his worries out of his mind and began strategizing a game plan to hold his liquor for longer than Ivan. Maybe they could be friends after all.


End file.
